1. Field:
The disclosure relates generally to database searching through faceted search systems and more specifically to rapid navigation of peer listings on web sites providing faceted search capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
When performing faceted searches on a web page, searchers narrow search results by selecting “categories” to filter search results. The searcher is not limited to simply drilling down into a single category. Faceted searches typically allow cross-facet searches, so that not only can the searcher go several levels deep into a single facet, the searcher can also make selections from multiple facets. Each selected category is displayed in a “breadcrumb trail” for purposes of navigating forward and back along the trail. Each selected category displays a list of peer categories, usually in a hierarchal list displayed on a left side of a web page, while the breadcrumb trail is displayed in an upper portion of the web page. Search results are usually displayed beneath the breadcrumb trail and to the right of the category list. When a searcher navigates back along the breadcrumb trail and selects a different peer category, the breadcrumb trail will change accordingly.
Faceted searching is most efficient when content is well categorized, when all of the categories are readily understood by the searcher, or when the searcher knows specific characteristics of what is being sought. Faceted searching is less efficient for searchers who do not know specific characteristics of what they are seeking, and who browse through the hierarchal levels by going back and forth between levels to examine new links. When this happens, searchers backtrack on the breadcrumb trail by clicking on a previous category to see the peer list for that category. The searcher can then select a different peer category and drill down in a new direction. The breadcrumb trail changes in accordance with the searcher's selections. Each time the searcher backtracks, a click is required to cause the peer list for category to appear. Moreover, each time a path is changed, a new page must be loaded. Additionally, within a selected path a searcher may use a keyword search and get null results for a novel word in the selected path. In order to search the novel word in other areas, the searcher would have to backtrack along the breadcrumb trail.
Thus, a problem exists that whenever the searcher wants to check the results of an alternative peer path. In order to check the alternate peer path, the searcher must go back to a parent category and choose an alternate peer category, click on that category, and then choose a new path from a newly displayed web page. For searchers unfamiliar with a particular facet system, this is a problem because the searcher must rely on memory. Even if the searcher remembers that there was a desired alternative path, the searcher may not remember at which level the desired path is located. Thus, with unfamiliar taxonomies, the searcher will spend a great deal of time loading pages and searching alternative paths.
Currently, searchers of a faceted search system are confined to the serial selection of items within a category hierarchy. If a searcher decides to change a category selection within the path, the searcher must navigate back up the category hierarchy path requiring a large number of clicks and page reloads, hoping to make the “right” selection the next time they build their search. Thus, a need exists for a way to eliminate clicks and page downloads in order to speed the search process and to allow a searcher to take advantage of suggestions offered by the navigation structure.